The finalists have been announced in the 2013 Be Inspired Awards competition, the annual programme run by software solutions provider Bentley Systems.

The awards honour the work of firms in improving and maintaining the world’s infrastructure. Six independent panels of jurors selected 65 finalists from nominations submitted by organizations in 43 countries.

Transport infrastructure is a key component of the programme with nine projects in total shortlisted across the categories of Roads, Rail & Transit and Bridges.

The spectacular Corgo River Valley Viaduct, an essential part of Portugal’s National Road Plan, connects district capitals in the country’s north. The three-kilometre, four-lane pre-stressed concrete structure is divided into three continuous west, central, and east sections with ground clearances ranging from 50 to 230 metres.

rail ineco

To preserve the view of the valley, LCW Consult designed the 80 million euro viaduct with single-shaft piers, box girder decks, and a single central row of cable stays for the 300-metre central span. Wind was a determining factor, and via computer modeling the engineers carefully and scrupulously evaluated the shape of each section in the structure and analysed and adjusted the cable stays to control displacement during construction.

In the Rail & Transit category, Ineco demonstrated how collaborative technology can deliver results. The company is working on the somewhat controversial first phase of the High Speed 2 (HS2) Railway in the United Kingdom, which will run 200 kilometres between London and Handsacre in the West Midlands at a design speed of 400 kilometres per hour.

At the Delta Junction in Birmingham, the Main Line coexists with branches to Birmingham and Leeds, creating complex structures and sections. Ineco designed this GBP 350 million section using Power Rail Track, MicroStation, and ProjectWise, enabling it to reduce the resources required for the project by 30 per cent, optimize the model and co-ordinate consistent design parameters across the various projects offices in London, Wales, Madrid and Seville.

The creation and management of intelligent multi-disciplinary 3D models was also integral to URS Corporation, finalists in the Roads category.

The Stockholm Bypass is a new motorway link to the western reaches of Stockholm, Sweden. The URS/ÅF AB consortium was awarded the Akalla/Häggvik interchange contract by Trafikverket, which encompasses the northern end of the three-kilometre surface section of the bypass. It includes 27 road alignments over 22 kilometres with 11 bridges, complex water and drainage systems, and complicated electrical and ducting networks.

Several challenging 3D and BIM-related procedures were mandated on this SEK 3.1 billion project. Each discipline published a fully referenced i-model that enabled clash detection across the entire project. Upon completion it is expected that drafting hours will have been reduced by 30 percent and the number of drawing needed by 90 percent via the use of 3D modeling.

The winners of the Be Inspired Awards will be announced at The Year in Infrastructure 2013 Conference in London at the end of the month. The global gathering will explore the intersection of engineering, technology and business drivers, and how they are shaping the future of infrastructure delivery and investment returns.